UNLIRICE #00

UNLIRICE, a project encompassing emergent creative culture from across Asia.

What exactly is “Asia” to begin with? Of course, each person conjures up different cultures or regions in response to this word. One person might think of Chinese calligraphy, while another imagines glamorous idols dancing onstage. Where one person’s mind may be imprinted with the image of an endless flow of motorbikes under a searing sun, for others, “Asia” may evoke a sleek city of skyscrapers. We could call any of these images accurate, and also inaccurate. Perhaps all of us still don’t really know anything about Asia.

UNLIRICE’s goal is not to discover the answer to this question. We are neither concerned with unifying the diverse images of Asia, nor calling for pan-Asian solidarity. Instead, it seems that we still don’t recognize each other for who we are. So we’ve tried to sketch a map that makes it possible for us to notice one another. This is a map that didn’t exist to begin with, is constantly being revised, and will always remain a work in progress. But that is why it should help us to encounter new things that were heretofore unknown to us.

UNLIRICE #00 is a sort of rough sketch, one that we hope to continue to fill in together with everyone in any way that comes to mind. The magazine format itself is only one, provisional form of UNLIRICE. I hope that this project gives rise to new contexts and new connections, and unlocks some part of Asia’s untapped potential.

PRAXIS
01 GIRL GAZE THROUGH THE ANXIETY
Lunadira | Senja | Yugo Tham | Lil Asian Thiccie | Victoria Yam
Photography by Amani Azlin | Interview & Text by Kelly Lim

02 MAKING SOME DECISION
Fauxe
Photography by Siew Png Sim | Interview by Koki Noguchi | Text by Yohei Kawada

03 YETI KEEPS METAMORPHOSING
Yeti Out
Interview & Text by Shintaro Yonezawa

04 NEW SCENES OF THE SHOPPING MALL ERA
Mall Boyz
Photography by Ichisei Hiramatsu | Interview & Text by Shintaro Yonezawa

05 UNSEEN BARKADA AS ECOSYSTEM
Seekersinternational
Collages by Mysteryforms | Photography by Donnel Garcia | Interview & Text by Hajime Oishi

06 MODULAR ARCHIPELAGO
Interview & Text by Nyshka Chandran

07 MORE THAN JUST A SLOGAN
Shelhiel | I-SKY | Reddi Rocket
Collages by Mysteryforms | Photography by Donnel Garcia | Interview & Text by Hajime Oishi

INTERPLAY
01 VIRTUAL SPACES THAT CAN NEVER BE COLONIZED
similarobjects | tomad
Text by Yohei Kawada

02 HOMECOMING
Lumi | object blue | Saphy Vong a.k.a. Neo Geodesia
Photography by Nhu Xuan Hua | Text by Yohei Kawada

03 ESCAPES TO RESTART
MRSHLL | Aisho Nakajima
Collages by Mami Hanai | Photography by Masami Sano [Aisho], Yang Joongsan [MRSHLL] | Text by Shintaro Yonezawa

DISPLAY
01 SAME COLOR VISIONS
Maya Akashika

02 THE DEATH OF HOMETOWN
Zhang Xiao

03 BLUE WATER IN YOUR EYE
Kanrapee Chokpaiboon

04 NIGHT FREAKS
Lee Eunsae

05 PICNIC, BABY’S BABY, CHROMOSOMES
Wu MeiChi

06 MODERN SHANGHAI
Chen Ronghui

07 KIN
Charmaine Poh

08 RAYAU
Alvin Lau